How to running Information

Most runners should train the same way that competitive runners do, even if they jog only for fitness. Here’s a program that you can follow even if you do not plan to compete. First get a physical exam to assure that you are healthy. Then start out by running every other day until your legs feel tired or hurt. Gradually work up to the point where you can run for thirty continuous minutes.

Then start your training program. Plan one fast and one long workout a week. The other workouts should be at a slower pace and can be skipped if you feel tired. Your fast run can be on Wednesday and your long run on Sunday. Wednesdays, start out slowly and gradually increase the pace until you start to feel uncomfortable as you breathe hard and your muscles start to hurt. Slow down until you recover and gradually pick up the pace again. Repeat until your legs start to feel heavy.

Each week try to improve by spending more time running fast and less time running slow. Take the next day, Thursday, off because your legs will be sore. On Friday and Saturday, jog slowly a short distance. On Sunday, try to run for 30 minutes, and each week, extend the time running until you can stay out for 60 to 90 minutes or more of brisk running. Take the next day off. Then jog slowly on Tuesday and try to run fast again on Wednesday. The same principles can be applied to any endurance sport you use for fitness, such as cycling, rowing or swimming.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties. For more information and hundreds of fitness and health reports, visit http://www.DrMirkin.com

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THE ISSUE

You see it at the start of every race. As soon as the starting gun goes off, the runners lined up at the front sprint away at blistering speeds; everyone trying to avoid getting boxed up in the middle of the pack. And in the core of the pack, runners are pushing, shoving and maneuvering in a desperate effort to find some space and make their way forward.

Ironically, the majority of those runners lining up in front, just behind the professional invitation athletes, should never be there in the first place. Most of them are already huffing and puffing away after only 5km, all red faced and barely able to have a chat with their friends. Which leaves them with a long and manfully half marathon experience ahead.

What I would like to point out with this article is that if you have done sufficient distance training before your half marathon, you can improve your times, with less pain and quicker recovery, by having the right racing strategy. The principles I will be touching on can be applied to most distances, but I am basing my advice on personal experience, and the half marathon is my favourite distance.

THE FACTS

Starting your half marathon too fast can kill your chances of running a personal best even before you reached the 5km marker. As a beginner, I did that to myself many times. When I learned to pace myself better at the start of the race (thanks to the guidance of my running mentor), my times started to improve significantly. I also became aware of how many runners actually start their races too fast. This was clear from the huge number of runners I would run past on my way, from as early as the 5km marker, all the way through to the end.

The truth is, you can always make up time after a slow start, as long as you do it gradually. But start out too fast, and it’s damage control all the way to the finish line. The lactic acid build-up is practically unavoidable. And it is only logic that you can’t reverse the impact of the hard work on your muscles, which you will have to deal with for the rest of the race.

THE CAUSE

The biggest reason for starting out too fast, is the pre-race buildup and excitement. You’re all excited, fired up and ready to go. The anticipation of waiting for the starting gun is no help at all. We are using the same starting technique for a 800m track race and a 21.1km road race, so it’s understandable that we get a little over excited. However, the excitement is the reason that you start out running much faster than you feel you are running at that moment. My rule of thumb is that if I should feel like I’m running too slowly, I can always check my pace at the first distance marker, and rely on fact rather than emotion.

Bad pace judgment is another reason, and is often linked to the excitement problem. You might be trying to pace yourself, but your brain is sending the wrong messages to your legs, like “this pace feels way too slow, surely we should be running faster”. Sometimes there is even a complete lack of pace judgment. If you are going to try for a personal best (PB), you should know what your target pace per km is for the race.

Positioning yourself too far up front in the starting line-up is another big mistake to make. If you are in a group of people that will run faster than what you are capable of, you will get swept along and start too fast. As mentioned earlier, most runners at the front of the pack start out at a pace that they will never be able too maintain, and unless you have a very good self discipline and pace judgment, you will do exactly the same if you find yourself among them.

THE SOLUTION

Experiment with moving yourself further down the pack in the starting line-up than you normally would. This is a good way to force yourself to a slower start if your self discipline is not good enough.

Compare the alternatives. Let’s use an example and say you are trying to break 90 minutes for the half marathon. That gives you a target pace of 4:15 per km. Scenario #1 is that you are 45 seconds off pace after the first kilometer, too fast. In other words, you ran it in 3:30. Scenario #2 is that you ran it 45 seconds too slow, at 5:00. In this scenario you have 20km left to catch to the target pace, at 2.25 seconds per kilometer. This is easily achievable, if done gradually. Consider this in comparison to scenario #1. There is not much you can do to compensate for the quick start. Of course you can slow down, but that does not undo the damage of fatigue caused by running faster than you should have. If you had the choice, wouldn’t you rather be in scenario #2? If you think these scenario’s are too extreme, think again. I have done both of them myself when I just started running half marathons.

Find a partner to team up with for the first few kilometers. You can help each other to maintain the right pace for the start. My running coach and mentor usually had a group of up to 8 runners from our training group with him at the start. We would stick together and help each other keep a decent pace. After about 7km’s the group would break up as runners perused their individual goals.

Practice makes perfect. If you are already hooked on the mentality that a fast start is a good start, its going to be tough to break the habit. A helpful tool is a stopwatch with enough memory to store lap times of each kilometer in your race. You can then analyze different races by comparing how you maintained your pace in slow start races, versus fast start races. Seeing it on paper can be very convincing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Having a good starting strategy has helped me improve my times over the half marathon, and I really believe that lots of runners reap the same benefits, regardless of what level runner you are.

Remember: You don’t make your race in the first 5 km’s, but you can break it.

To your running success,

Waldo

Waldo Pienaar is a former competitive runner, who competed in middle distance track racing at high school, and converted to road racing and cross-country while studying at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. A combination of injuries and his career as an accountant has since limited his running to a social level, but he still enjoys researching information on health and training.

http://www.cbmallhub.com

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Marathons are taxing races both on your body and on your mind. You can train for weeks, but the physical strain of so much running is still going to be a major shock to your system. When your legs are wooden and tired and your breathing is labored, the only thing between you quitting and finishing is your mental strength. A good runner must learn how to fight through the pain of draining races and finish without exception. After all, wanting to quit is ordinary; wanting to quit and pushing through is extraordinary.

Even David Thomas felt the urge to quit when he ran his first marathon in Melbourne. Despite feeling comfortable for the first part of the race, near the middle Thomas began cramping badly and taking frequent stops for water and stretching. Even though everything in his body was telling him to stop, his Never Say Die mentality pushed him through to the 30K mark. Once he hit that point, as Thomas put it, I cruised home.

Thomas ended up taking fourth in that race, and his achievement illustrates a pivotal point about running. No matter how tired or drained or beaten you feel, never pull out of a race. Unless you’re injured or putting yourself in a physically compromising situation finish the race. Walk across the finish line if you have to, but finish the race. If you quit halfway, you’re always going to remember that race as a disappointment. But if you drag yourself across the end point, that’s something that nobody can take away from you. Regardless of what place you finish, you can always be proud of the fact that you did indeed complete what you set out to do.

In this way, racing can be understood in two terms. There is the obvious race against you and the other runners wherein everybody is vying for the top spot. But there is another more important aspect to racing, and that’s all about you versus you.

William Mann is a keen and passionate runner. Well aware of how difficult it can be to fit everything you need into a day. By approaching running as a purely enjoyable activity he has shown how it is possible for you to run for life. Learning to listen to you body and respect its needs is the key to lifelong running. His book Run Forever shows just what that means in practice. An easy step-by-step guide to get you running or keep you running fit. Find out more about David Thomas and his “Distance Secrets” here http://www-stayfit.com/running/oia/index.html

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